Ottmar Liebert - Innamorare Summer Flamenco (1999)

As the title notes, Innamorare is indeed languid summer stock–blowzy like a breeze in the warmth of the sun, and, to the delight of his detractors, relatively light and lazy fare. While the album is not the fiery brand of traditional flamenco, Ottmar Liebert here marries his fusion of New Age jazz with ethnic rhythmic structures, making seductively sensual music that captures the spirit of romance rather than the white-hot technical virtuosity of his peers. Hunky Liebert makes what can be described as mood music for restaurants, bathtubs, and bedrooms and may well be the New Age woman's equivalent of the bodice-ripper crowd's Fabio. Fans of Liebert will relish the piquant elegance of "Ballad 4 Santana," bask in the warmth of "Desert Elysium," and luxuriate in the bittersweet strains of "Farewell 2 Summer." –Paige La Grone